Typewriting machine



Nov. 4, 1941. J BARKDOLL 2,261,208

TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed July 17, 1940 Patented Nov. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES mm owes Joseph P. Barkdoll, Groton, 1Y .,-a ssignor .to e

L. C. Smith -& Corcna Typewriters, Inc. Syracuse, N. Y., a-corporationof New York Application July 17, 190,- Ser ial:No. 345,913

The invention relates -to improvements in typewriting machines, the improvements being particularly advantageous for use in small "and-low portable 'typewriting machines and relating 'toauxiliary paper supporting means for supporting work sheets as they are fed to and from the platen in typing. y

It is a known practice in the artto provide typewriting machines with apair of papersupporting fingers or arms associated with the paper table for extension from a compact position of non-use to a paper supporting position at the rear of the paper table to provide a more extend; ed support than is afforded by the usual paper table forpaper sheets asthe latter are fed to and away from the platen, such fingers being particularly desirable in small compact portable 'typewriting machines.

The principal objects of the presentinvention are to provide aftypewriting machine havinga'n improved compactible and extensible set of such finger assembly which shall be very light and "inexpensive.

To-the foregoing and other ends which will appear from the following-descriptionof the pre- 'ferredgembodiment of the invention shownin the drawing, the invention consists in the features of construction, arrangements of parts; and

combinations of devices'and parts se't outparticularly in the appended claims. h

In the drawing:

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal sectional view of the improved machine taken on the line 'l-'l of Fig. 2, the paper fingers or arms being shown iin-extended or operative position; i

- Fig. '2"is a fragmentary 'top plan View of "the machine; I Fig. 3 is a fragmentary rear view of the paper fingers and their mounting showing the paper fingers or arms in compacted or'inoperative position, certain parts being broken away. for greater clarity of illustrationvof features of theimprovements; I

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan View aof the paper fingers .and their mounting with the fingers posi- .tioned as shown in Fig.3, the .view :being taken looking downward perpendicularly-to the upper side edgesof the compacted fingers or arms; 7 Fig. 5-is-a-detail sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 3-; p

Fig. 6 is :a detailrear view of the fingers and their mounting-showing the fingers in extended operative-position; certain 'parts being broken ay; a v

Fig. '7 "is a detail sectional view on the line of Fig.6; and 5 Fig. 8 is a detail rear view of the aper fingerspoperative'ly positioned as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and .6. e

p .The improvements are shown in a preferred form thereofincorporated in an otherwise known small,- low-height, portable typewriting machine known .as the Corona Zephyr. Only so much of the known machine as isnecessary to a full understan'ding of the present improvements is showniin'the drawing and will .be described. Said 'known mahine'has a platen carriage I0 mounted to travel back and. forth transversely of the machine upon a carriagebed l' I which is mounted onthe finain frame .of the machine. The carriage"has the'usual'roller platen l2 journalled thereon; and also has'mounted thereon the usual paper table or apron l3 for guiding work sheets down under the platen from the, rear for feeding of jthes'heetsbythe usual paperfeecl mechanism up; in frontof the platen past the print- 'ing'or typing',.1ine of the machine. The carriage has detachably mounted thereon at the rear thereof a thin sheet metal decorative and machine-part-Ihousing mask element l i. Said mask elementha's the usual integral bent arms l5 ad- -jacent.its ends clamped vtojthe carriage by screws l6, 'said mask element also having the usual forwardly bent end portions provided with aper- It'ures (through which-protrude the usual maskel'ement retain'ing .studs I 'I on the carriage. The improvements constituting the present invention will nowbe'descr-ibed. lAbracket iii-19 ofthick and stiff sheet .metallis-rigidly held to mask element l4 midway the ends of said element and of the carriage Ill. :Said bracket supports the paper-supporting fingers or arms I8. The bracket comprises a main ibody portion w and a central :stem portion I9 -:bent .at :a,,-considera-b1e angle-to the plane of the :body portion. The body portion 1:9 is of flat bar-like form and is cut away along its lower :edge from its 'two ends part way to the central .stem .portion to; provide-reduced end portions 119 :at opposite endsof the .body portion. 1 The mask-element 1.4 is :formed along its upper edge behind the carriage and the paper table with a forwardly and downwardly rolled or bent upper edge portion I4 extending transversely of the machine lengthwise of the carriage, which edge portion I l is formed with a longitudinal slot 20. Stem portion I9 of the bracket I9-I9 extends down through this slot 20 with the lower edge of the wider medial part of body portion I9 of the bracket seated down on element I4 along the rolled edge portion W of said element. Stem portion I9 of the bracket is fixedly held to element I4 by a rivet 2|, and the side edges of stem portion I9 preferably abut the ends of slot 20, being formed with shoulders I9 for abutting the slot ends. The body portion Ill-I9 of the bracket lies preferably in an upwardly and rearwardly inclined plane, and is located slightly behind the rear upper end of paper table I3, as shown. The reduced end portions I9 of the body portion of the bracket are spaced slightly above the rolled edge HI of mask element I4.

The front face of the body portion of the bracket is covered by a thin sheet metal decorative mask element 22 conforming to the shape of said body portion and having a rim 22 covering the exposed edges of said body portion. The rim 22 of element 22 is formed with lugs 22 bent around behind the reduced end parts I9 of the bracket to hold mask element'22 to the bracket.

The two paper-supporting arms or fingers I8 are fiat bars of stiff and thick sheet metal and are pivotally supported on bracket I9I9 -I9 at their inner ends by headed pivot studs 23. The studs are held at their forward ends rigidly and non-rotatably to said bracket and each arm I8 is pivoted close to its inner end on a different one of said studs, each stud having a headat its rear end between which head and bracket body portion I9 the arm is confined fiatwise. The shanks of studs 23 are perpendicular to the inclined plane of bracket portions I9-I9' Studs 23 are slightly spaced apart transversely of the machine along a horizontal line and slightly to opposite sides of the mid-length point of the carriage.

The paper-supporting armsorfingers I8 each has a rounded inner end edge concentric with its pivot, in which edge is cut an arcuate series of gear teeth 24. The teeth on the arms I8 form sector gears, one on each arm, which gears mesh with each other and permit swinging of the arms in unison through a limited arc. of movement of each arm about its pivot, the gears being so arranged that the arms may swing from a compacted position of Figs. 3, 4 and 5 to an extended operative position of Figs. 1, 2, 6 and 8.

Fastened rigidly to each arm I8 and projecting rearwardly therefrom slightly outward from its pivot is a metal stud 25 which extends rearward further than the head of pivot stu'd 23 of the arm. A contractile coiled spring 28 has its opposite ends anchored to the outer ends of studs 25 and is adapted to move above and below the pivot studs during swinging of the arms I8 up and down to hold the arms in either extended or compacted position.

In their compacted position arms I8 extend substantially horizontally, and their compacting movement is limited by engagement of pointed edge lugs I8 on the arms in apertures 21 in mask element I4. Spring 26 is preferably connected to the arms, as shown, so that it will move up past the common center line of the pair of pivot studs 23 after a very slight extending movement of the arms I8 and will thereafter act to pull the arms to fully extended position and hold them there. The extending movement of the arms is arrested by edgewise engagement of the bars I8 above their pivots just before the gear sectors would otherwise demesh, as shown in Figs. 6 and 8. In extended position the arms I8 diverge in V formation from their pivots and lie in an upwardly and rearwardly inclined plane to support paper sheets passing between the table and the platen to the printing line of the machine and passing rearward over the platen from the printing line of the machine.

The arresting engagement of the lugs I8a in holes 21 of mask element I4 prevents marring of the said decorative mask element. The constant pull of spring 26 on the rear ends of studs 25 slightly flares the arms I8 rearwardly from their pivots, as shown in Fig. 4, to cause said arms to clear lugs 22 of bracket mask 22 and thus prevents scratching of exposable parts of the front faces of the arms I8 by the bracket and its mask.

It will be observed that a decorative and efficient auxiliary paper supporting means is thus provided for typewriting machines. 'It will also be observed that the pair of paper supporting arms may be shifted in unison by simply, grasping and swinging oneof said arms, the arms being geared together. It will also be observed that the spring functions not only to releasably hold the arms extended or compacted, but also functions to complete both a manually initiated compacting movement and a manually initiated exr tending movement of the fingers. It will also be observed that the lugs l8 engage in holes 21 to interlock the arms I8 with mask member I lnear the free ends of the arms while the arms are in compacted position thus reducing liability of accidentally bending the arms I8 in using: and handling the machine While the arm are compacted. WhatIclaimis: I

1. In a typewriting machine having a roller platten, a traveling platenca'rriagezin which said platen I is journalled, and a carriage-carried paper-supporting table associated {with said platen for directing paper beneath said .platen from the rear toward the typingline ofthe ,machine, the combination of two auxiliary papersupporting arms pivotallysupported at one end of each arm to travel bodily withthe carriage and to swing about parallel axes extending transversely of the platen from a compact inoperative position to an extended paper supporting position, said arms being formed with integral intermeshed gears at their pivoted ends for swinging of either arm by the other when the latter is swung about its pivotal axis, and the pivoted ends of said arms being located adjacent the receiving end of the paper table and approximatelymedially of the ends of the carriage, and a contractile coiled spring anchored at its opposite ends to the arms outwardly from the arm pivotsand movable bodily across the pivotal axes of the arms during swinging of the arms to hold the, arms in either the inoperative or paper supportingpositions of said arms. l 5

2. In a typewriting machine having a roller platen, a traveling platen carriage in which said platen is journalled, a carriage-carried papersupporting table associated with said platen for directing paper beneath said platen from the rear toward the typing line of the machine} the combination of two auxiliary paper-supporting arms pivotally supported at one end ofeach' arm to travel bodily with the carriage and to swing about parallel axes extending transversely of the platen from a compact inoperative position to an extended paper supporting position, said arms being formed with integral intermeshed ears at their pivoted ends for swinging of either arm by the other when the latter is swung about its pivotal axis, and the pivoted ends of said arms being located adjacent the receiving end of the paper table and approximately medially of the ends of the carriage, a contractile coiled spring anchored at its opposite ends to the arms outwardly from the arm pivots and movable bodily across the pivotal axes of the arms during swinging of the arms to hold the arms in either the inoperative or paper supporting positions of said arms, and means on the carriage engageable by said arms to limit swinging of the arms away from each other with the arms held by said spring in their compact inoperative position with said arms extending substantially horizontally from their pivots toward opposite ends of the carriage, said arms being edgewisely engageable to arrest swinging of the arms toward each other with the arms held extended in their paper supporting position in V-formation by said spring.

3. In a typewriting machine having a platen carriage provided with a paper supporting table, a mask member held to the carriage at the rear of the carriage adjacent the receiving end of the 1 paper table, a bracket held to said mask element medially of the ends of the carriage, a mask member covering the front of the bracket above said first, mask member, two paper supporting arms each pivotally held adjacent one end thereof to said bracket at the rear of the bracket to swing outwardly toward the other arm from a compacted position in which the arm is swung against said mask member and extends toward one end of the carriage from its pivot, the pivotal axes of g the arms being parallel and the pivoted ends of the arms being located approximately medially of the ends of the carriage, means connecting the arms to swing simultaneously toward and from compacted position, and a contractile coiled spring anchored at its opposite ends to the arms outwardly from the arm pivots and movable bodily across the pivotal axes of the arms to hold the arms in both compacted and extended position, portions of said arms being engageable adjacent the pivots of the arms to limit swinging of the arms from compacted position.

4. In a typewriting machine having a platen carriage provided with a paper-supporting table, a pair of inter-geared paper-supporting arms pivotally supported by the carriage for simultaneous swinging thereof about parallel axes between a compact. inoperative position of said arms and an extended operative paper supporting position in which said arms extend beyond the receiving end of the table to provide a more extended support for paper, and a contractile coil spring anchored at its ends to the arms outwardly from the arm pivots and movable bodily across the pivotal axes of the arms to yieldingly hold the arms extended and compacted relatively to the paper table.

5. A typewriting machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein each arm has a tapered projection, and the mask element has two apertures in which said projections are partly engageable to limit compacting swinging movements of the arms and interlock the arms with said mask element.

having means on the carriage for limiting the swinging compacting movement of the arms, said means and said arms having provisions for interlocking the arms with said means while the arms are compacted.

7 In a typewriting machine having a roller platen, a traveling platen carriage in which said platen is journalled, and a carriagecarried papersupporting table associated with said platen for directing paper beneath said platen from the rear toward the typing line of the machine, the combination of two auxiliary paper-supporting arms pivotally supported at one end of each arm to travel bodily with the carriage and to swing about parallel axes extending transversely of the platen from a compact inoperative position to an extended paper supporting position, means connecting together the pivoted ends of said arms for swinging of either arm by the other when the latter is swung about its pivotal axis, and thereceiving end of the table, said bracket comprising a long flat bar-like main body portion and a central depending stern portion mounted on the carriage medially the ends of the carriage, the body portion forming two horizontal arms extending transversely of the carriage from the central stem, two paper supporting arms each pivotally held adjacent one end thereof to said bracket at the rear of the bracket to swing outwardly and upwardly toward the other arm from a lower compacted position in which the arm is swung against the rear face of said bracket and extends along the bracket toward one end of the carriage from its pivot and beyond the adjacent end of the bracket, the pivotal axes of the arms being parallel and the pivoted ends of the arms being located approximately medially of the ends of the carriage, means connecting the arms to swing simultaneously toward and from compacted position, and a contractile coiled spring anchored at its opposite ends to the arms outwardly from the arm pivots to hold the arms in extended position. I

9. In a typewriting machine having a platen carriage provided with a paper-supporting table, a pair of inter-geared paper-supporting arms pivotally supported by the carriage for simultaneous swinging thereof about parallel axes between a compact inoperative position of said arms and an extended operative paper supporting position in which said arms extend beyond the receiving end of the table to provide a more extended support for paper, and a contractile coil spring anchored at its ends to the arms outwardly from the arm pivots to yieldingly hold the arms extended to operative position.

JOSEPH P. BARKDOLL.

6. A typewriting machine as claimed in claim 1, V 

